Microbiological Common Language (MCL) project: overview

MCL is a data exchange standard for microbiological information. In short,
MCL defines terms which can be used to reference
and describe microorganisms. It is designed to form a simple and generic framework
leveraging the electronical exchange of information about microorganisms. MCL is
loosely coupled from its actual representation technologies and is currently used
to structure XML and RDF files (see examples).

An introduction to the background of the standard and its use cases can be found in:Verslyppe, B., Kottmann, R., De Smet, W., De Baets, B., De Vos, P., and Dawyndt, P. (2010). Microbiological Common Language (MCL): a standard for electronic information exchange in the
Microbial Commons. Research in Microbiology 161(6), 439-445. doi:10.1016/j.resmic.2010.02.005

Although the standard was set up by StrainInfo, it is intended as a common ground
for the whole microbiological community. Therefore, it is open to community feedback
and extension. We are glad to receive your remarks or suggestions.

MCL reference

The authorative definition of all terms in MCL can be found in the MCL reference.

MCL schemas

Schemas define the way MCL files need to be formatted and allow automatic validation of
MCL files. A specific XML schema is available for each important distinct use case. RDF users can
use the generic RDF schema.